To repair or reconstruct tiled surfaces, such as bathroom or kitchen walls or floors, old cementitious material (i.e., grout) must be removed and replaced. Such grout is sometimes removed by chipping, cutting or abrading the grout with a hand tool not specifically designed for the task. Alternatively, the grout may be removed using hand tools specifically designed for grout abrasion, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,064,588 to Cooper, U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,142 to Demetriadis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,966 to Eubank and U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,718 to Olkkola. These tools are generally manually reciprocated along the grouted surface with sufficient pressure to abrade and remove the grout. Some of these tools are designed more for minor abrasion, as for cleaning grout, than for complete removal of grout. In either case, a considerable amount of manual labor is required.
Accordingly, power tools have been developed which are specifically designed for the sole purpose of grout removal. Such tools are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,923 to Regina and U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,727 to Weinstein et al. However, such tools are typically too expensive to be suitable for purchase by a homeowner or other person performing grout removal only occasionally.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an abrading blade suitable for the removal of grout. It is another object to provide an abrading blade which may be used with a conventional multipurpose powerable saw. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an abrading blade which removes grout by reciprocation along a grout surface. It is a further object to provide an abrading blade which affords control and stability during high-speed reciprocation. It is a still further object to provide an abrading blade with a replaceable cutting section. It is yet a further object to provide such a blade which is of sturdy construction and is inexpensive to manufacture.